


Destiny

by Amanthas



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, F/M, Not finished/no longer a work in progress, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-24 02:45:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amanthas/pseuds/Amanthas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson!!! Just a fan is all :) All characters are courtesy of Rick Riordan.  Plot line would be mine.  Enjoy!</p></blockquote>





	1. Part One

  

Percy

 

            You just couldn’t cheat fate.  Percy wasn’t sure when he had figured this out, but it was true.  Destiny, fate, karma, whatever you wanted to call it, it was inescapable.  Wherever you went, however you got there, you would always land right where destiny wanted you to, and there wasn’t a thing you could say about it.

 

            Not that his life was ever so melodramatic before.  Before the first kids became deathly ill, before all those mothers starting ageing over night, before he even talked to that really pretty cheerleader with the curly blonde hair and the sharp grey eyes, life had been pretty normal.  It only went crazy after he dropped his pencil in the hallway, and met this girl he had seen before but never talked to.

 

            And it all got crazier from there.

 

            It had been Tuesday, a month after school had started, during the lunch period. That school had started was bad enough, but added to it was the fact that Clearman High was supporting the “Eat Healthy America” campaign, which meant the newly instated and much hated, “Vegetable Day.” But what really slammed the metaphorical kick in the balls home was that Percy had really been hoping this high school sophomore year would be better than his eighth and freshman year.  Eighth grade had been a nightmare, being stuck in the “loser bracket” with next to zero friends, and freshman year had been just as bad.

 

            It wasn’t that he was one of those kids who judged their lives by how many quote un-quote “friends” he had, it was just that whenever Leo Valdez wasn’t around school (which was more often than not) he was stuck sitting by himself with only me, myself, and I to talk to. 

 

            He tried not to blame Leo .  The guy was having a rough time, what with his mom’s recent divorce and how his younger brother Isaac had been acting recently.  Rumor was that Isaac had joined a gang, the Wolves, and was currently running amuck in LA with all his gang buddies.  Given that, Leo had more than enough reason to stay home.

           

            But still, it wasn’t easy being unpopular.  His dad, Paul, had tried really hard to get him interested in sports, but Percy barely had the coordination necessary to walk and talk, much less swing a bat at a ninety mile an hour fast ball, or kick a soccer ball while having his shins swept out from under him.  The only sport Percy was good at was water skiing.  He was a natural at that.  Paul said it was because of his mom, Sally.  She had been a natural too, “born and bred for the waves”. 

 

            Which made the way she died last year so much worse. 

 

            ‘No, stop.  Don’t think about that.  Anything else but that.’ Percy thought to himself as he sat by the corner near the bathrooms, as lonely and insignificant as possible.  He picked at his salad as he mourned the vacant spot across from him, usually filled with Leo’s presence.

 

            Then again, Leo had taken Isaac’s behavior hard recently.  He never said it out right, but Percy knew he felt guilty about how wayside his brother had fallen; as if it was his fault.  He wasn’t as much fun to hang with as he used to be.  Of course Percy was still friends with him, and just thinking that caused him a wave of guilt, but he was really worried about Leo.

 

            “Hey, Prissy.”

 

            Percy sighed mentally and turned to face one of the biggest bullies in the school, Tyson Cyclo.   The guy was enormous, a line backer on the football field, and not exactly prom king what with his enormous body and rather childish face.  He sneered down at Percy with crooked teeth, all of which were coated in a layer of peanut butter.  Gods did Tyson love peanut butter.

 

            “Have anything for me today?” Tyson asked as he held out a huge hand.  Percy sighed aloud this time and rummaged around his pocket for a spare bill.  He didn’t like bullying, and would normally rather fight it out with Tyson than pay the jerk, but once he had heard about Tyson’s father and mother, he felt bad enough for the guy that he wasn’t going to try and fight him thus making a bad situation worse.  Besides, the guy was huge.  All he would have to do was sit on Percy, and he would be done for.

 

            “Here,” Percy slapped a wad of cash into his waiting palm.  “Now go away.”

 

            “Whatever,” sneered Tyson, turning away.  The one good thing about Tyson was that even though he bullied for money, he never stayed longer than he had to, and never threw another pot shot at someone if they paid up.  Percy still hated the guy, but again, it wasn’t worth it to fight, not really.

 

            He went back to his salad.

 

            The bell rang thirty minutes later, ending Percy’s brooding period and signaling the beginning of English class.  Percy gathered up his stuff eagerly, happy to have something to do other than pick at the wilted greens.

 

            He wasn’t much of a brain-i-ack like some of the other loners in his class.  In fact, Percy kinda hated school and learning altogether.  But he liked English just because Paul was one of the best teachers he knew.  And at Clearman High, good teachers were rather hard to come by.

 

            He swung his backpack over his shoulder and entered the hallway with the stream of people, heading up to the staircase to reach the second floor when a familiar face popped up from seemingly nowhere. 

 

            “Percy!” A voice called his name.  “Hey, Jackson!”

 

            Percy turned and then sighted Leo, a broad grin flashing across Percy’s face.  “Leo!  You’re back!”

 

            Leo smiled impishly, his fingers fiddling with the spare parts he kept in his army jacket pocket.  “Yeah man.  Sorry I skipped lunch, my mom needed me at home.”

 

            Percy felt a familiar pang in his heart at the words.  He looked down quickly, hoping Leo didn’t see the tears watering in his eyes.  He knew it wasn’t macho, but he missed his mom so much it was like a constant hole in his heart.  She had been one of those people you would think would live forever, and then boom!  One day you wake up and find out they’re gone.

 

            At least he had Paul.  That was more than some people had.  Together, the two friends hurried up the stairs, pushing through the sea of people to reach classroom 207.  They were early though, the first ones there actually.  Percy and Leo nabbed the seats in the back, and began their pre-lesson unpacking when Paul came in through an adjacent door. 

 

            “Hello boys!  By the way Leo and Percy, you’re going to need your textbooks today, so I hope you brought them.”

 

            Leo nodded and pulled out the heavy book with a grunt and a groan, slamming the bible-sized text on the desk with a heave. 

 

            “Man, if I lifted that thing instead of weights, I’d be bigger than Frank Zhang.”

 

            Percy snorted at the mention of the heavy boxing champion.  Frank was a nice enough person but seriously?  How much muscle did a guy need?

 

            He reached into his backpack for his text, and then stopped, his fingers meeting only empty air.  He frowned and pulled back the flap, searching through the mound of junk inside.  Leo leaned over and made a face.

 

            “Really dude?  How many times have I organized this backpack only for you to stick freakin pizza in it ten minutes later?”

 

            “Just because you’re OCD doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be neat freaks,” Percy defended himself as he shifted through a mound of socks, crumpled paper, snapped pencils, broken erasers and half empty bottles of pop. 

 

            “Man, you can’t _be_ any more opposite of neat.”

 

            Percy ignored that as he groaned.  “Di Immortals.  I left my text in my locker.”

 

            “Di Immortals?” Leo snorted.  “Really?  What, do you cuddle with your Latin conjugation workbooks?”

           

            Percy shrugged.  “Hardly, I have a D in that class.  That phrase just sticks in my head, you know?”

 

            “Yeah, right.  Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

 

            Percy rolled his eyes and walked over to the door, glancing over at Paul.  “I gotta go, I left my stupid textbook in my locker.  I could have sworn it was in my bag, but…” He shrugged and hurriedly ran down the staircase, Paul’s voice echoing after him,

           

            “Don’t be late!”

 

            He took the stairs two at a time and ran down to his locker—number 367.  Most of the people had trickled into their classrooms by now, so he could run unobstructed through the halls.  Some people snickered as he raced by, and a few shouted stupid things like,

 

            “Getting ready for the marathon Jackson?”

 

            Percy ignored them and skidded to a stop in front of his locker, hurriedly putting in his combination and then swearing when he screwed it up in his haste and had to try again.  Once he opened the door, he searched through his locker, ignoring the sweaty PE clothes, the dirty socks and discarded tissues, along with the crumbled papers. 

 

            He finally found the right book and was pulling it out when his finger was sliced by something sharp.  Percy hissed out in frustration and sucked his thumb as blood dribbled down his finger onto the textbook.  He fingered his way around his locker, determined to find the source of his cut.

 

            He found the sharp corner and pulled at it, yanking free a small piece of paper.  Percy turned it over and then sucked in his breath sharply.  It wasn’t a piece of paper, but a photo of none other than him and his mom when they were visiting his grandparents in New York.  The picture had been taken outside the candy shop, Sweet On America, his mom’s personal favorite candy store when she was a little girl.

 

            Unexpected tears welled up, and Percy finally let them fall down his face this time, knowing it wasn’t manly but he didn’t care.  He missed his mom so much now.  He missed her smile, her sweet candy smell mixed with ocean breeze.  He missed the caring touch of her hand on his shoulder; the kind of touch that would make all his troubles just melt away.

 

            A pencil dropped from his messy locker, rolling nosily on the floor, and bringing him back to reality.  Percy wiped the tears impatiently and slammed shut his locker after he stuck the picture in his textbook.  He turned and then promptly dropped the text on his foot when he saw a really pretty blonde cheerleader standing behind him, holding out his pencil with a smile.

 

            “Ow!” Percy turned pink as he bent to pick up the book, realizing he was making a fool of himself in front of this extremely pretty girl.  Her hand beat his at picking up the book, and they stood up together, nearly bumping heads. 

 

            The girl laughed nervously.  “Hey sorry.  You, ah, dropped you pencil by the way.  And then your book.” Her tone took on a coy quality, making Percy’s cheeks burn.

 

            She offered the book and pencil to Percy and he took them with shaking hands, nearly dropping the pencil all over again. 

 

            “Oh, ah, thanks.  Um…you didn’t have to, I mean you…” He felt his forehead turning bright pink to match his cheeks, but he couldn’t help it. She was so pretty, what with her curly blonde hair and sharp grey eyes that showed with clear intelligence.  He felt like a gorilla in comparison to her witty eyes.  Maybe it was just the V neck, short skirted cheer uniform that made her look so amazing, but Percy got the feeling that even if she wore casual clothes she would have looked like a princess.

 

            “No trouble,” she laughed easily.  “The name’s Annabeth by the way.  Annabeth Chase.”  She stuck out her hand.

 

            Percy turned from pink to crimson as he took her hand, feeling his palms turn extremely sweaty and probably really gross.  To her everlasting credit, Annabeth didn’t wince.

 

            “Percy,” He stuttered out.  “Thank you…again.”

 

            “No trouble…again,” Annabeth said in a coy tone as she flashed him a smile before turning away, her blonde hair flipping sweetly over her shoulder as she walked off to leave Percy the gorilla wondering if she was teasing him or not. 

 

            He was so stunned he didn’t move until the bell rang for the start of class.  Spewing a curse, he turned and started to run up the stairs when his foot met something hard and round, nearly making him break his neck on the stairs.

 

            “What the…”

 

            He looked down for the whatever-it-was and then located a thick college looking ring.  He frowned and rubbed the gold leaf ring in his palm.  It looked expensive, not the sort of thing left lying around the floor of Clearman High.  A glint of light caught his eye, and Percy peered closer at the ring, finding an inscription written on the inside of the band reading in fancy script that he could barely decipher,

 

            Frederick Chase, Senior 1989

 

            ‘Chase?’ he thought as he rolled it around his palm.  ‘Isn’t that her last name?  Maybe it’s her dad’s or something.’

 

            “Hey,” He called out almost involuntarily, “Hey you dropped this…”  Then he sighed.  What was he thinking?  Annabeth was long gone.  It looked like he would just have to keep it safe and return it to her when next they met.

 

            And it was weird, but Percy got the feeling they would met again.  It was almost like it was destiny, or fate, or karma, or something.  But that girl just felt like a part of his life now, even though he had never met her.

 

            ‘This is just strange,’ he thought as he raced up the stairs to room 207.  ‘Just a strange day.’

 

            He made his typical excuses to Paul and took his seat next to Leo, ignoring his best friend’s hiss of, “Where the heck were you?” and “Is that blood on your textbook?”

 

            He pulled out his text, trying to concentrate on the lesson.  It was only half-way through when he was absently searching for the picture he had slipped inside his book that he realized it was gone.


	2. Part Two

Annabeth

She had to hide a smile. That boy in the hall, Percy, was really rather adorable, what with his sweeping black hair and cute puppy sea green eyes. And he seemed nice, despite his sweaty palms and nervous attitude. 

However, her thoughts shifted from Percy to History as she walked down the hallway, ruffling her curly blonde hair as she debated on whether or not she would get an 100 on the test. She thought she had gotten answer 36b. right at the time, but looking back over her test, she found herself worrying her two paragraph answer didn’t give the question justice. 

‘Should I have included that bit about the fire during the last of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle era? Or maybe I should have included more on Alfred the Great, but I wasn’t sure that was relevant to the Chronicles themselves…’

She keep thinking as she walked, so concerned with question 36b. she almost missed the gentle flurry of paper when she went to readjust her bag. Annabeth glanced down and then blinked in surprise, seeing a photo on the floor.

She knelt down and picked it up after a brief hesitation, thinking that she might just place it on top of the lockers for the owner to find so that the nice photo wouldn’t be trampled. But when she saw the objects of the photo, she stopped.

It was that boy again, looking around the same age if a little less care worn. He was smiling hugely at the camera, arm around a slim woman who was caught mid-laugh, her eyes sparkling like liquid diamonds. She looked so much like Percy it was unmistakable to see she was Percy’s mother. Behind them, Annabeth recognized a candy shop, Sweet On America. It wasn’t a chain she saw around California, but then again, she never really paid attention to that sort of thing.

Her fingers traced Percy’s face and she frowned slightly, a puzzle presenting itself to her. He looked a lot happier in the photo than he did in real life. She wondered what it was that had him so miserable. Bullying? Death in the family? Lost his pet?

‘Not my problem,’ said a small voice in her head. ‘I shouldn’t care.’ But if Annabeth had a major fault, it was her thinking she could up and fix everyone’s problems. Whether they really wanted her help or not. Annabeth shoved the picture in her binder and took off to be on time for History class. She took her seat right before the bell.

 

After school was cheer practice. They all had worn their cheer uniforms to school because a.) the cheer uniforms had a lot more potential to them, and b.) they would have to wear the uniforms for practice anyway. They were getting ready for a football game on Saturday night, so that meant wearing the new cheer uniforms to be comfortable doing their stunts in a mini shirt and V neck.

Piper Mclean, her best friend, was waiting by Annabeth’s locker, which was right next to her own. Annabeth quickly shoved the 100 percent History paper out of sight to avoid Piper’s teasing. She had made the mistake before about fretting to Piper over her grade only to receive an 100 and nonstop teasing for a week. As it turned out though, she needn’t have bothered. Piper was so distracted, it was a miracle she could spit out sentences. 

“Heyyy!” Piper intoned as she leaned forward, grinning eagerly. “You will never believe it! It finally happened! I finally got that stupid idiot to kiss me!”

Annabeth laughed, giving Piper a quick hug as she shoved her books haphazardly into her locker. “That’s great Pipes! I just can’t believe it took Jason thee months to work up the courage.”

Piper smiled, and Annabeth could see her friend was in heaven. Her short chocolate hair was cut close crop around her head except for the two long braids decorated with two white eagle feathers. Her kaleidoscope eyes seemed even more fractured than ever, as if she was seeing twenty different possibilities all at the same time. Her perfect skin was always a sight of bitter annoyance to Annabeth, who had the unfortunate need of face washes in order to keep her face moderately smooth. 

In other words, Piper Mclean was the perfect cheerleader, which was why she was co-captain of the squad. And now she was dating the biggest jock of the football team, the famous Jason Grace who was extremely well known for his amazing ability to catch and run on the field. 

Like a breath of wind, they said. He runs like a breath of wind. 

Annabeth pulled her hair into a high ponytail as she and Piper walked over to the gym, she pretending to listen to Piper’s nonstop tirade of Jason while Piper debated the pros and cons of dating a jock. Annabeth didn’t mind though. Piper deserved to have such a nice boyfriend in her life. Annabeth just wished she had someone she could trust and like so much as Piper trusted and liked Jason. Her mind flashed to that boy she had met in the hallway. 

Annabeth shook her head, annoyed with herself. Why was she thinking so much about him? He was cute, so what? Why was she so sure there was another layer to him most guys didn’t have?

“…the dress should be blue?” Piper asked. Annabeth glanced up, stunned. 

“I’m sorry, are you, Piper Mclean, talking about fashion?” 

Piper giggled nervously, running her fingers through her side bangs. “I know, I know. Totally out of character, I get it. And yeah, I’m disgusted I even asked. But Annabeth, come one. You totally know what compliments people.”

Annabeth took the praise with a smile, still distracted with thoughts of that boy named Percy and the picture she had found. “The dance coming up? When is it, next Friday?”

“That’s the one,” Piper replied. She gave Annabeth a wicked smile that had gotten both girls in trouble more times than either cared to count. “I’m thinking of coming just to sneak out with Jason and hang someplace less crowded. Maybe by the gym or on the roof? If you want, you could bring someone along.”

“Like who?” Annabeth asked with a fake laugh. Her heart skipped a beat as she imagined herself and the boy up on the roof together. And then she shook her head. Gods, was she going insane?

“How about Nico DiAngelo? You guys were together…once.”

Annabeth shook her head. “No, not Nico. He’s great Pipes, really, but we just don’t belong as more than friends, you know? Kissing him was like kissing my brother. It’s just wasn’t right.”

Piper shrugged. “Only child right here. But yeah, I get the idea. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find someone.”

Annabeth nodded, but any reply was stifled as they entered the gym, taking their places among the ranks of the other cheerleaders. Annabeth often wondered why she had joined the cheer squad, but she knew the main reason was because of her mother. Allison Chase had been captain of the cheer squad during her high school days, and she expected Annabeth to follow suit, regardless of what Annabeth herself wanted.

‘Fifteen years old and I still find myself catering to Mother’, Annabeth reflected somewhat bitterly as she completed her warm ups with the rest of the cheer squad. Any further thought was driven from her mind by the horrible lesson being taught that day: toe touches.

By the end of the lesson, Annabeth had decided that somehow Piper had managed to defeat the laws of gravity. Because how else could she manage to get herself perfectly flat in the air, her legs extended straight out from the hips, fingers gripping each toe perfectly?


	3. Part Three

Hazel

Her hair stuck to the back of her neck, tied loosely with her black hair band, only held together by sweaty curls. Hazel jogged to her offensive position on the soccer field, breathing lightly as her cleats clipped the grass.

“Levesque! Move those cleats on the double! This isn’t the time for you to be cherry picking! Get yourself in position! That goes for every one of you lazy cupcakes! I want you in position by the time I reach the number five, or so help me I’ll have you running and lunging until your feet fall off and your hamstrings break! Now MOVE!”

Hazel sighed and broke into a reluctant sprint, knowing all too well that when soccer Coach Hedge made a threat, he kept it. He was a small mean man with a whistle, but while Hazel and every other team member hated his guts, they all admitted that no one got the team better prepared for finials, and that was a fact.

Reyna Roman and her sister Hylla both trotted alongside her, sweat glistening as their dark pony tails swung with sleek perfection. 

“First day back and we’re already running for our lives,” Reyna panted. “Some needs to get Coach a chill pill.”

Hylla and Hazel laughed, the three separating as they each took their positions in the drills.

The soccer drills lasted all morning and into early afternoon. By the time Hazel was free, it was nearly halfway through Saturday. Still, while she was sweaty and tired, she could go home and tuck her hair in a cap, pull on her fat jeans and eat popcorn while she cried over the latest episode of Supernatural. After all, she had a date.

Hazel climbed into the car, smiling at Nico who sat with a stone tight grip on the wheel, his face normally pale now chalk white. 

“Relax Nico,” chided his mother, Marie, from the passenger seat. “You can’t drive if you’re as stiff as plywood.”

Nico relaxed, but only fractionally. “You know, this was a lot easier without a audience,” he grumbled as he pressed his foot against the gas pedal.

“Relax brother,” Hazel replied as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and gulped down half her water bottle in one go. “No judgment here.”

“And how was soccer practice?” Marie asked in a warm tone. Followed sharply by, “No Nice, left hand only. Be sure you read all the signs.”

“It was fine,” Hazel replied, ignoring Nico’s death grip on the wheel as he jerked the car sharply left. “Reyna and Hylla agree Coach Hedge is even more egotistical than last year, if possible. That stupid first place trophy in his office is hardly helping.”

“Well, it’s not like your begging to turn back in your VP award,” Nico teased from the wheel as he eased them onto a new street. 

“Why would I? I won that through lots of blood, sweat, and tears.”

“Like my driving license,” Nico answered brightly. Hazel shrieked as he jammed the brakes to avoid running a red light. 

“Damn it Nico!”

“Now, now children, play nice.” Marie sighed. “I miss the days when Bianca could drive. Why do you children have to grow up and leave me for college?”

“Mother!” cried out Hazel and Nico at the same time. Hazel grinned, but the smile soon turned into a look of pure embarrassment at her mother’s next words.

“So, when do I met this Zhang?” 

“Nico!” Hazel cried, immediately pouncing on her brother’s guilty look. “You told her? How could you! I swore you to silence!” 

Nico shrugged. “Sorry.”

Hazel steamed in the backseat, crossing her arms and scowling as unforgiving as possible. She hadn’t wanted her mother to know about Frank for as long as possible so that she could avoid all the awkward questions and silly mother-ly comments. Now it looked like she was going to have to endure a hundred minutes of Mother’s recounting how she had met Nico’s father, and the hundred different pros and cons of marriage and love. And responsibility. Responsibility was a major issue for Marie ever since she had discovered Hazel had snuck out after curfew to visit a certain boy named Isaac.

It hadn’t even been that bad, Hazel reflected. Sure, he had gotten involved in some pretty deep stuff recently, but back then he had been just another crazy haired kid who had a deep sense of humor. Isaac wasn’t even his first name, Hazel thought angrily. It was his middle name. Everyone just called him Isaac because he had been teased about being named Sammy. Some moron had said it was a girl’s name, and he believed them.

Hazel had tried for years to convince Isaac that Sammy was a wonderful name, but it had been a no go. Then he had gotten involved with the gang and the drugs and Gods-know-what-else and Hazel had dumped him. She was a star soccer player with a good GPA and a squeaky clean record. She didn’t want any juvenile delinquent boyfriends coming in-between the way of a full ride to college. 

Still, it had been pretty hard. Reyna and Hylla had been her back up that day, and they had become really good friends since. After the whole Isaac/Sammy fiasco, Hazel had sworn off dating. ‘It was too early’, she had reasoned. ‘Nobody is really ready for a relationship.’

And then on the first day back she had met Frank. He reminded her of a teddy bear, so huge but so cuddly at the same time. Which was odd, considering he was 90 percent muscle. But he was also 90 percent klutz, which was how they had met in the first place.

Hazel still couldn’t get the smell of pizza off her sweater.

But after a while they had started dating. It was very quiet, and they never did anything at school because Hazel didn’t want all the annoying popular girls going, “Ooh, look at that, she’s finally got a boyfriend! Wanna bet how long this little relationship is gonna last?”

It was a rough approximation, but most of popular girls were a few cells short of a brain, so it was pretty accurate context wise. She knew it wasn’t cool to be intimidated by clichés, but all she really wanted was the full ride to Indiana. Once she got that, Isabel and all her friends could stare in envy.

“Anyway Hazel dear, it is wonderful you are making new friends. And Nico tells me this Frank is very interested in sports?” Marie was still chattering away, but Hazel felt done with talking. She had a twenty page essay on Nero due by next Monday, and then she had geometry homework to catch up on. Gods she hated geometry.

“Yeah, champion boxer.” Hazel replied, running her fingers through her mass of curls. She would have to take a shower before she went to the movies obviously. And put on a little make up. And decide what to wear. Hazel sighed and sank into the seat, ignoring the clamping belt. 

It was going to be terrifying.

Four hours later, Hazel was on her way to see the Avengers. Her hair had been washed and combed, and then Marie had done a fancy braiding knot on the back of her head that looked awesome. She had on a white lace sweater over a creamy turtleneck with no sleeves. Perfectly fitting blue jeans with artful rips on the knees were tucked into white furry boots. 

It was perfect, or at least she hoped it would be. Hazel smiled when they reached the theater, her eyes finding Frank immediately. Her raw nerves were soothed when she saw he looked even more nervous than she did. Almost scared nervous.

Hazel climbed out of the car, walking toward Frank, but he made a motion to stay and then crossed the street himself, disappearing into a sea of people. 

Hazel hesitated and then leaned on the hood of her car, Marie whispering last minute advice as Frank approached from the opposite sidewalk. When he got there, Hazel was surprised to see he had been crying. Instantly, she felt on edge. What had happened?

“Hazel, I’m really sorry. I know this was our first date and all, but something’s happened. With my family, something happened, and I need to stay with them, you know? Grandmother is really torn up about it and Mom…” He swallowed hard. “Look I have to go. I am so sorry.”

Hazel had, at first, sought to hide her shock and rage at being dumped at the first date, but his words brought out sympathy from her as he went on. “Frank, it’s fine.” Hazel touched his arm and tried for a smile, though she was sure she failed miserably. “I’m fine. We can always watch the stupid movie later. Family first.” 

Wow. That sounded incredibly self-less. Too bad her heart was screaming, ‘You jerk! All I wanted was the perfect afternoon? What, was that too hard for you?’ Hazel shoved that small mean part of herself aside, reasoning, ‘it’s a family crisis. Try and be sympathetic instead of selfish. The universe doesn’t revolve around Hazel Levesque.’ But still. She could taste her disappointment.

“Gods,” Frank swallowed hard, tears streaming down his face. “What did I do to deserve you?”

And then before Hazel could respond he totally was way too good for her; he leaned forward and kissed her.

Hazel felt the breath disappear from her body and she tensed up in fright, but the truth was that when Frank pulled away, she was smiling so hugely she was afraid her face might split in two. Hazel blinked, and then noticed the uncertain expression hovering over Frank’s face. She could read his worry.

Did she mind? Was it too early? Should he apologize? Should he leave? Shouldn’t he do something?

Hazel smiled and then went up on her tip toes and gave him a quick peck, a fire kindling at the base of her belly and working her way up to her heart. She felt a shudder she was sure had nothing to do with the cold.

“Go,” She order and pushed him lightly, the greedy little beast inside subdued for the moment. “I’ll be here. Go on, go.”

Frank gave her the dopiest smile she had ever seen as he took off, making her laugh.


	4. Part Four

Leo

He got home around nine in the evening. It wasn’t like he had planned to, he just did. He had been out looking for Isaac all day and night, trying every usual spot to find his brother. It was no go, right up until he walked past a dive and saw Isaac and some chick curled up by the window, whispering and laughing together while the crappy music thrummed in the back round.

And what was with that? Since when was Isaac dating some dumb blonde girl he probably met at a tattoo parlor? His last girlfriend had been a brown haired, cinnamon skinned beauty with tanned muscles. She had been a star soccer player and had a good brain that got her a high GPA. And now he was cuddling some blonde who probably couldn’t tell a socket wrench from a screw driver. Isaac was taking a turn for the worse, and there wasn’t a thing Leo could do about it.

He assumed the ID Isaac had used to get into the dive was fake too. Another crime to chalk up in the “naughty” column. Isaac’s “friends” must have secured the ID for him, since his brother might have joined a gang but he sure as hell couldn’t buy from the black-market. All the other members were men and women over eighteen, all lean and hard from fighting and running. Isaac was freakin fifteen, a year younger than Leo, and was about as hard as Play-doo. There was no way he was fitting into that gang or buying fake IDs.

Leo had waited outside until his stupid brother had walked out while his blonde friend went to the bar to make an alcohol run and probably cheat on Isaac while he was out back. And then, once Isaac was out the door, to make things worse, he pulled out a cigarette and took a long drag.

“You know that’s crap for your lungs?” Leo asked, stepping out of the shadows. 

Isaac did a double take, his handsome features registering surprise from the neon lights of the crappy dives.

Isaac and Leo looked nothing alike, which was fortunate for Isaac and unfortunate for Leo. Isaac had the same crazy hair that seemed to stick out everywhere, but his jaw was more square, his eyes were determined, and his cheekbones just high enough to give his face a noble like quality. Since the stupid gang really did keep him around, his looks were probably why.

Leo just looked like ten year old gone wild. He had crazy looking eyes, an impish smile, and a delicate chin that girls would proclaim, “cute” at it’s best. He knew he wasn’t much of a looker, but still. He had hoped his charming personality would help him to snag a girlfriend, though it had done nothing so far. 

“My lungs are none of your business,” snapped back Isaac, looking annoyed. 

“A snappy retort. Are we, perhaps, doing something illegal?”

“Shut up Valdez.”

“Your last name is Valdez too, though seem to have forgotten.” Leo’s voice wavered making Isaac step automatically towards his older brother, as if to comfort him. 

That caught Isaac’s attention. He stepped back quickly and asked as if to cover his movement, “What?”

Leo chewed on the words for a second. Maybe it wasn’t cool, but he had Isaac on the tender hooks now, and after all the crap his baby brother had put him and their mother through, Isaac deserved a little worry. Although, he apparently didn’t give a crap if his family lived or died, considering he hadn’t taken the two seconds necessary to send a text.

“Mom’s sick.” Leo finally spat out, his eyes swimming in tears. “She had to go to the hospital. I worked her shift at the machine shop, but still. And dad won’t help, only send those lousy child support checks. I need someone to help me. Isaac, please. I can’t do this alone.”

Isaac stopped, his cigarette part way between his mouth and chest. 

“I…” He stopped and cleared his throat. “I don’t…” Then he sighed. “Leo, I can’t man. I have my friends now, and you know how they get about not scheduling ahead of time…”

“Isaac, I need my brother with me to help Mom. You want to help Mom too right?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Then help me man!” Leo glared at his brother. “Forget this stupid gang and help your family. If they don’t get it, screw them.”

Isaac actually went white. “No.” He spat out forcefully. “I am not going go home Leo. Mom’s probably fine and this is a stupid trick. When I get there, there’s going to be those doctor guys there to tie me up in a straight jacket and send me to re hab. Carl told me. No.” He didn’t sound convinced with what he said. But whatever he really felt, Isaac still turned and started walked back toward the dive. 

“This isn’t a stupid joke!” Leo called out, his patience breaking. “Mom’s sick and she’s probably going to die! Is that what you want?” His voice broke as he watched his brother keep walking, the steady movement of his back unbroken. 

“Is that what you want?” Screamed Leo. “To come home and find out you’re too late and she’s six feet under? Isaac!”

Isaac dropped his cigarette in the ash tray by the door. He turned and faced Leo dispassionately. 

“You’re not my family anymore Leo. I don’t even know you any more.”

“Yeah,” Leo croaked out, tears brimming in his eyes. “Yeah I know the feeling.”

Isaac stopped and stared for a second more before turning and entering the pub once again. Leo stood perfectly still and stared after him, watching through the windows until he took his seat and got cuddly with the blonde again.

And then he went home. Alone. 

When he unlocked the door, the house smelled abandoned. Leo flicked on the lights and breathed deeply, trying to detect the faint smell of his mother’s perfume in the small entrance hall.

All he got was the stench of something rotting.

“Gross,” Leo complained and covered his nose. He looked around for the what-ever-it-was and found a dead cockroach by the door. After he had taken care of that, he plunked down on the couch and stared at the blank TV, as if willing it play something.

Percy complained he had OCD. Ha. Leo’s thoughts were so disorganized it, they would make Percy’s locker seem like a Betty Crocker advertisement in comparison. And man, he had seen that guy’s locker. It was horrible.

Leo looked over at the coffee table and saw the small white cup of coffee from that morning still sitting there, just waiting for his mom to pick up and drink… 

“Good morning, mijo,” She had said with a strained smile. “Are you ready for school?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo had replied easily as he snagged some toast before running back upstairs. “Morning mom.” Nothing special. No hug, no warm lovey-dovey feelings, just ‘morning.’ Though, if he had know at the time, he would have said everything. He would have said how much he appreciated her and loved her. He would have kissed her cheek and smiled at her like when he was two.

What he would have done…

Leo buried his head in his hands, overcome by the guilt of the memory that kept playing itself over and over in his mind… 

But instead he had race upstairs, did his geometry homework, and came flying out of his room a quarter past six, one shoe on, half-eaten toast still in his mouth, wrestling an army jacket over his shoulder.

And then he had seen his mom.

She had been hunched over like an old woman, which made no sense since Esperanza was only in mid-thirties. Her hair had gone form black with streaks of grey to completely steel colored in under half and hour. Her face had been aged decades with lines of fatigue, and her hands were wrinkled with veins and liver spots.

“Mom?” Leo had asked, unbelieving that this decrepit woman was his lively mother. “Mom?”

She turned to face him, her breath rattling horribly in her throat. Once her eyes found his, Leo knew the impossible had happened: She was his mother. Esperanza had uttered a half cry and fell forward, as if even simply sitting had been too much abuse for her body to take.

“MOM!!” Leo ran forward and caught her, shaking her slightly as tears blurred his vision. “Mom please! Mom! Mom!"

It was as if his pain couldn’t reach her. Leo had cried for a minute before coming to his senses and dialed nine-one-one. He had sobbed when the paramedics came, and had cried the entire ambulance ride. It was only until he sat alone in the waiting room did he pull himself together enough to put a stoic face on. 

When the doctor came out, he looked as if whatever had aged Esperanza had gotten to him a well.

“Leo Valdez?” 

Leo looked up, knowing his face was tearstained and not caring. 

“Young man, do you have any one to stay with?” Leo had felt his heart beat speed up, but he hadn’t answered. The doctor frowned and walked over, his hand patting Leo’s shoulder sympathetically while his stern face softened as if to easy the blow. “Young man, you need to tell me if you can stay with someone else while you mother is in the hospital.”

Leo shook his head, more tears tracing down the tracks on his face. “No, I stay with my mom.”

The fingers on his shoulder tightened. “What about your father?”

Leo stiffened and jerked away, shaking his head. “I haven’t seen that jerk in years,” He answered defiantly, glaring at the floor. “And I’m glad for it.” 

He hated it. Heated how everyone who found out would give him an awkward pat on the back or the “Aww, poor baby, the divorce must have been so hard on you.” So his dad was a jerk? So what? He had his mom, or he had had his mom…

No, he told himself sternly. She will be fine. She will be fine. She will be fine… Leo repeated it to himself over and over as if chanting it would make it true. 

“…can only assume the worst about her. Leo? Son can you hear me?”

Leo looked up. “Did you just call me son?”

The doctor ignored that and frowned at him. “If you have no one to stay with I’ll need to send you to foster care.”

Leo felt his heart plummet to his feet. No. Way.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” He responded automatically. The doctor glared at him suspiciously. “Honest,” Leo said as he stood up, crossing his fingers over his heart. “Scout’s honor.”

“Down the hall three doors to the left,” The doctor finally relented. Leo nodded his thanks and walked quickly to the bathroom, climbing out of the window like some sort of insane person escaping from an asylum. 

Then he had gone to school…

Leo looked up at the sound of door slamming. He jumped nearly ten feet in the air when he saw Isaac standing there, looking awkward. He jammed his hands into his jean pockets and stared at the floor, avoiding Leo’s accusatory glare. 

“I uh…” Isaac coughed nervously. Then he took a deep breath and continued. “I went to visit Mom.” His voice broke. “I’m sorry Leo. You were right, we need to stick together and get her better. The doctors didn’t even have a cause for it. Over worked is what they said, but she looks…she looks…”

“Old,” Leo supplied flatly.

Isaac nodded. “Yeah. Look Leo, I’m sorry about everything, man. I really am, but I can’t undo it. I wish I could Leo, but I just…I mean…”  
Isaac backed away when Leo stood, shaking with emotion.

Leo walked toward Isaac who looked uncertain if he should run or stay before determination came over his face and he stood his ground, eye to eye with his older brother.

Leo crossed his arms. “You are an idiotic moron who stinks like centaur dung.”

Isaac cracked a smile. “Centaur dung?”

And then the ice between them melted away, and Leo and Isaac embraced each other. They were brothers after all, and no matter what, family always forgives.

At least for the moment.


	5. Part Five

Frank

 

His muscles screamed at him as he pushed up the bench weight, grunting and shaking as he held it above his head for another four seconds before slowly letting his arms cave and pushed the weight onto the stand. Frank sat up, wiping his face with his shirt as he groaned.

Sunday and here he was, bench pressing until his arms gave out, as if sweating enough would stop the pain in his heart. It hadn’t work so far, but he had strength in him yet.

Frank stood and swayed a little as he closed his eyes and tried to find his bearings. His hand brushed against the weight as he stretched to the ceiling. 

He knew he shouldn’t be in the weight room bench pressing alone, but right now he really didn’t care. It wasn’t as if he could ask grandmother to come and make sure he didn’t kill himself with weights. 

Snorting at the mere thought, he drifted over to the dumbbells, selecting a sixty pound weight to relax his arms before moving on to the heavier weights.

Frank lifted up the weight and held it until his arm shook before slowly letting it down. His black hair was plastered to his forehead from sweat, while his squinty Asian eyes peered back at him from the mirror in front of the weights, glaring at him accusatorily. 

He switched hands and started lifting, trying to ignore everything else but the moment in the front of the theater where he and Hazel had kissed. Just thinking about the kiss made him smile. 

He had felt so huge compared to Hazel slim athletic body, like a sasquatch compared to a fairy. And when he had leaned down and kissed her, he had fumbled it; as usual. Still, Hazel had kissed him back, and that was something. Maybe she hadn’t noticed how completely out of his league he was. 

He couldn’t help but notice how good she smell, and how much better she tasted—like cinnamon with a hint of warm coco. Her roasted coffee brown curls had smelled like shampoo, and even long after he had drawn his hand away, he could still smell it.

A disapproving voice sounded behind him.

“Fai, if you are done trying to sweat more than a horse you might take a shower and put on a respectable appearance before we go to visit my daughter.”

Frank sighed and put the weight back on the rack, rolling back his massive shoulders with a shrug. 

“Yes Grandmother.”

“And make sure to comb your hair,” Grandmother added before shutting the door. 

Not slamming it, Frank thought wily. Shutting it. Grandmother was far to proper to slam anything. 

He took a steamy show, enjoying the water washing away the sweat from his limbs before changing into cargo pants with a desert camouflage top. His leather jacket went over his shoulders, and his dark brown combat boots went on his feet. Frank ran a comb through his hair and then walked slowly down the stairs, dragging himself with sheer will.

He loved his mom, but if Frank had a weakness it was hospitals. He hated the way they smelled--like sickness masked with Lemon Pledge, he hated the desperate and lonely looks on the patients, made all the worse by the fake cheer plastered on every wall and employee face, and he hated the beep of the machines that sounded throughout every hall. He hated his mom was sitting in a room, curtained off from the rest of the world, unmoving and silent.

Grandmother drove her ancient Cadillac in silence. Frank studied his grandmother with narrowed eyes, angry for no particular reason. She seemed to take everything in stride, as if his mother’s sudden sickness was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. She hadn’t cried, hadn’t even changed her facial expression when the sudden sickness struck. He had told Hazel his grandmother was torn up about it, but that was only because he had assumed Grandmother was just being stoic for his benefit. Now he wasn’t so certain.

' It’s like she doesn’t even care her only child is dying, Frank thought to himself. It’s like she can’t care about anything anymore.' 

They parked outside the hospital, and waited in the sterile room in the hallway while the doctors gave his mother another check-up before letting them in. To Frank’s surprise, his mother wasn’t the only one who was in the room. Another woman, looking to be around sixty or seventy was in the other bed, her face lined and her steel grey hair pulled back into a pony tail. By her bed side were two Hispanic looking guys around his age, both with crazy ringlet hair that stuck out in semi-afros. 

One of the teenagers had a more square jaw, and a handsome face with high distinguished cheekbones. He looked vaguely familiar to Frank. The other teenager had his head in his hands, but when he looked up, Frank recognized that crazy impish face as belonging to Leo Valdez from Clearman High. 

He vaguely knew the kid to be a class clown, a real sarcastic addict who popped half-backed witty remarks faster than a druggie with pills. Frank didn’t particularly care for Valdez, but the look of pain on his face was enough to create stirs of pity in Frank’s heart.

“Hey,” He said as he moved over and tried to greet Leo with a tentative smile. It felt more like a grimace of pain. “How’s it going?” And then winced. How’s it going? It can’t get any worse than being stuck in a hospital watching someone you love slip away by slowly while wasting the last dregs of life smelling Lemon Pledge and watching crappy TV. 

“Okay,” Leo responded in a hoarse voice, took exhausted to make a sarcastic remark. On closer inspection, Frank saw he had dark bags like bruises under his eyes, and his face was lined with grease and dirt while his bloodshot eyes dropped like a hound dog’s. 

Frank sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. He nodded to the older woman in the bed. “You’re grandmother?”

Leo shook his head. “My mom.”

Frank blinked, thrown for a loop. The woman couldn’t have been younger than seventy, and yet Leo was his age. She couldn’t have given birth to him at fifty-five could she? Then he looked closer at the woman and mentally gasped. 

Her face, heavily lined, seemed far too young to be sporting so many wrinkles. Her lips and cheekbones were smooth and clear, like a woman in her prime. The roots of her hair were midnight black, instead of the steel grey that coated the rest of her hair like a poison. She looked like a thirty year old woman made old in a day…like Frank’s mom. 

“Did she…” Frank hesitated, not wanting to insult the guy. “Did she age suddenly? Like she was fine one day and then she aged decades just literally over night?”

It was Leo’s turn to blink in surprise. “On Tuesday. How did you…?”

“Because,” Frank gulped, his mind reeling. “Because the same thing happened to my mom yesterday night.”

Leo looked behind Frank and seemed to notice his mom lying there for the first time. He rubbed his eyes and squinted, as if expecting Frank’s mom to vanish like a mirage. 

“Do the doctors not have a cause?” Leo asked suddenly. Frank covered his shock with a frown. “As in, they said it was just fatigue?” 

Frank gaped slightly, unable to hide his feelings. Both of their mothers falling ill with the same age sickness, around the same time? What were the odds? 

“Yes. Yeah, that’s exactly what they said.”

Leo sat up straighter and rubbed his hair, dousing it with oil from his hand. “Oh man…Does your mom work at the machine shop over by N and 40th street?”

Frank recoiled slightly, thrown by the logic, or rather, lack of. “No she’s a Canadian soldier on break from Afghanistan.”

Leo’s mouth formed a comical O. “Well then,” He managed a lame joke, “That’s a different story.”

“Why would you think she works at a machine shop?”

Leo cocked a brow. “Really dude? Thinking just too hard for your brain? I mean, they both got sick in the same week just days after each other. They both have the same symptoms, and they both are around the same age. It’s like a disease for women in their mid-life, or something. And if they had contact before they got sick, it would make even more sense.”

“You think my mom contracted it from yours?” Frank’s voice took a cold dip. He hadn’t mean to be a jerk, but his mom’s sickness was pushing him over the edge as if was. To think she had contracted it from some dirty mechanic…

“Or maybe the other way around?” Leo’s tone turned as icy cold as his own. “Since my mom wasn’t the one to be fighting a war on the other side of the world where public sanitation isn’t exactly well-known.”

"Leo," spoke the handsome guy in a warning voice. "Chill."

Frank went red. He stood up tall and towered over the kid, his feelings far too out of whack for him to reel in. Leo stood up too, ignoring the other guy's hand on his arm, coming barely up to Frank’s neck but still standing his ground. Frank jabbed him in the chest, nearly sending him onto his mother’s hospital bed.

“Look here Valdez. My mom is perfectly—“

“Fai!” His grandmother’s sharp voice broke the tension. “Come over and help me you silly ox!”

Leo smirked, sitting back down and crossing his hands behind his head casually. “Yeah, Fai. Go help your Grandmother you silly ox.”

Frank snarled and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “Later.” Before turning and storming back to Grandmother and his mom, trying to hide the frustration and rage building up in his gut.

Grandmother noticed. “Wipe that idiotic expression off your face!” She barked out in almost military fashion. “You look like a constipated bull.”

Behind the curtain, Frank swore he could hear Leo Valdez utter a quick, snarky laugh.

 

On Monday, his relationship with the Valdez boys didn’t get much better. He and Hazel had arrived early and were sitting at the sophomore lunch tables, holding hands and exchanging silly notes in French when Hazel’s eyes widened suddenly and she dropped Frank’s hand quickly.

Frank looked up with a scowl and saw the handsome boy from the hospital standing behind him, hands in pockets, looking downcast and awkward.

“Hey Hazel,” He said glumly.

“Sammy…” Hazel replied breathlessly. Her cheeks turned bright red as she fanned her face like an old timey actress. “Hi. I didn’t realize you were…I mean I thought you were with the…” she shot a look at Frank and then, if possible, blushed deeper. “Anyway, hi.”

“Yea—h.” responded the boy, drawing out the word. He smiled and Frank saw his perfect white teeth wink cheekily at him. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. You still want to go to Indiana right?”

Hazel nodded, looking confused. “Of course, they’re my favorite soccer college.”

“Then, I got you this.” Sammy pulled out a letter from his pocket, blushing slightly now too. “It’s a letter of recommendation from a friend of mine. He was an alumni of the school, one of the top students there, and his dad is a big patron. I pulled a favor so…” he shoved the papers in Hazel’s bemused hand. “Consider it a thank you and an apology.”

He turned and hustled away, vanishing into the crowds. Hazel stared after him a second before yelling out, “Sammy wait!”

The guy turned slowly, looking at Hazel with a sad smile.

“Call me Isaac.” And walked away.

“Sam—Isaac!” Hazel stood up and ran away from Frank, her hair bouncing in roasted coffee curls in the sunlight before she vanished. Frank felt his heart sinking lower and lower until it was deep in the center of the earth.

“Bye Hazel,” He whispered before gathering their things and trudging off to his locker.


	6. Chapter 6

Piper

Piper tugged at the edge of her cheer skirt, wishing that the uniforms were less show-y and more modest. In the fall they weren’t so bad, but during the winter she could really use a nice snowboarding jacket and pants. But no. She had to wear a mini skirt in the middle of January at like, minus five degrees.

Not that it was that bad yet, but it was getting there.

Piper fiddled with her braids, her short hair “fashionably choppy” and cropped close to her head with the exception of two long strands on both sides she always braided. Today she had braided them with blue, green, and grey feathers to match the cheer uniform for the “Winged Stallions”, which was the name of Clearman High’s sports teams. She supposed the name was because they didn’t want to call the school, “Home of the Rearing Horses,” or “Home of the Fighting Pegi.” 

(Was Pegasus plural Pegi?)

Whatever the case, the uniform was dark grey with two blue strips across each bicep and a design in glittering green on the front of a winged stallion as it reared up. Her name was written on her back, also in glittering green. It bothered her. Piper didn’t like glitter, hated the color green, and overall disliked mini skirts; but she wasn’t about to quit cheer because she didn’t like the uniforms. She was stubborn that way.

Piper rubbed her legs together self-consciously until Jason Grace—her boyfriend—walked through the doors of Clearman High. Suddenly her uncomfortable attitude went flying through the window.

Moving like in a dream, Piper walked fluidly to Jason, giving him a wicked smile before tackling him in a half-hug that left him breathless.

“Hey Pipes,” came a weak voice in her ear.

Piper drew back as Jason wrapped his arms around her waist, grinning like a fool. His amazing sky blue eyes sparkled, and his blonde hair waved sexily across his tanned face as always. All in all, he looked like the teenage actor for some cheesy chick flick about a beach party—and being the daughter to the famous actor Tristan Mclean and his ex-director wife, Venus McLean, she had seen enough hot teen actors to know.

“Hey,” She responded with a crazy grin, knowing it was foolish and not really caring. Jason leaned down while she went up on her tip toes, brushing together with an ease that caused several jealous looks to fly at them.

Piper melted in his arms, so giddy with happiness she could hardly return the kiss. He had wrapped his arms around her in a hug, swept back her hair behind her ear, and leaned down to kiss her again. How much sexier could you get?

They both drew back and smiled at each other, a blush starting on Piper’s cheeks. She felt like everything in her life was going perfect right now. Her father and mother were never happier together, her boyfriend was AMAZING, her cheer career was going exactly the way she wanted, and everything was looking lined up nicely for her first dance with Jason on Friday. Life had nowhere to go but down, as she was about to discover.

 

Piper blamed the strange boy who cornered her after English, her second to last class of the day. He was thin as a rail, with a strangely glassy look in his eyes, as if he really wanted to be asleep. His soft blonde hair and pudgy face had a mesmerizing appearance that really made Piper want to sit down and take a nap.

“Piper!” He hissed her name. “Piper Mclean!”

Piper yawned and then stretched luxuriously as she plopped down on a hallway bench, starting to think about napping in the halls instead of going to lunch. 

“What?” She yawned hugely.

“Snap out of it!” Whispered back the boy. “And listen to me.”

Piper nodded lazily. “I’m listening.”

“My name is Clovis. I’m here to help you, so answer honestly. Does anything seem wrong to you?” 

Piper blinked, suddenly so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. She knew she should be saying or doing something, but her brain was so muddy…She yawned loudly, almost splitting open her jaw. “Other than the fact I really feel like taking a nap?”

Clovis huffed in apparent annoyance. “Yes other than that. It’s not my fault. I never had this effect on you before. I suppose it’s just more potent for humans rather than demigods, and let’s face it, whatever happened to you, you are not a demigod.”

“A demi-what?”

“Not important,” Clovis answered.

“Then why mention it?” Piper fought to keep her eyes open, her vision blurring and shifting strangely as she battled her exhaustion. She swayed and blinked blearily, unable to stop squinting and blinking.

“A slip of the tongue, sorry. Look, doesn’t your life seem way too perfect?” Piper couldn’t seem to find her tongue. The boy’s voice was too mesmerizing, and she could feel herself falling asleep by the second. 

“I…I guess?” She muttered, letting her head drop to her chest. Seconds later, she heard snapping. Piper opened her leaden eyelids to stare cross-eyed at the fingers snapping in front of her face.

“Stay with me here Piper,” She heard Clovis command. “Come on you can’t fall asleep yet.”

“Wha—“ Piper sighed sleepily. “Why not?”

“Okay, back to business. Doesn’t your life seem too perfect, almost like it’s, I don’t know, a DREAM?” 

Piper frowned, an inkling of what he was saying reaching her ears. “What?”

“The perfect boyfriend, the perfect school, the perfect parents, the perfect friends, the perfect life? Isn’t it a little too perfect? A little too apple pie to actually be apple pie? A little too good a forgery of an eighteenth century painting that looks too new to be a legit eighteenth century painting ? You see what I’m getting at?”

Piper shook her head, willing the tiredness’ to fall away. “I…I don’t—what? Are you saying I just dreamed up Jason?”

Clovis shook his head empathetically. “No, no! He’s the one thing you didn’t dream up. I mean, isn’t your life just perfectly…perfect?”

“Why do you keep repeating that?”

“Because it’s important!” Clovis yelled back, annoyed. “Because life isn’t perfect and you know it. So if this is perfect, it can’t be life, ergo what is it?”

Piper shrugged, her head feeling vaguely fuzzy. “America?”

Clovis sighed and buried his head in his hand. “You do not do well with sleep deprivation,” he muttered. Clovis snapped his fingers, jerking Piper awake again.   
“My point is, this is wrong and you know it. I mean, a cheerleader? Really?”

Piper felt a need to defend herself that snapped her back to the waking world. “What? Because I’m not blonde I can’t be a cheerleader?” She demanded as she yawned, loosing her fierce attitude to the sleep that kept gripping her. “Can you get to the point already?” She asked crankily, wanting nothing more than to stretch herself on the iron-hard bench and pass out.

Clovis scowled. “The point is that you need to be ready. When the Cyclops dung hits the fan, you need to be prepared to duck and cover. You get me?”

Piper smiled charmingly. “Not even a little.”

Clovis sighed. “I suck at this. Just…remember what I said about dreaming okay? And perfection. And destiny, remember everything you can about destiny.”

Piper nodded, quelling the smart ass answer popping to her lips about how he hadn’t said anything involving destiny in the hopes he would leave and let her sleep. Clovis sighed again and Piper felt another prick of irritation. Normally, she would have done something—like yell or demand or glare. But right now all she could do was snuggle on the bench and close her eyes and drift off, finally getting some sleep…

 

“Pipes?”

Piper opened her eyes, blinking and yawning in rapid succession. She looked up and saw Jason staring down at her with a smirk on his face. Piper stared back at him for a second, her brain not managing to comprehend what was going on. 

And then she bolted upright, her hand flying to her messed up hair, across her chin (thankfully she hadn’t drooled) and over her skirt which had managed to ride up her leg in a rather embarrassing manner.

“J-Jason!” She sputtered, going to rub her eyes only to remember her mascara and thinking better of it. “Um what—?”

“You fell asleep,” Jason was laughing, though he looked more relieved than anything else. Piper turned pink and took his hand when he proffered it, but still punched him lightly in the chest.

“Jerk. You’re enjoying this too much.” She teased to cover her embarrassment and ease his worry.

Jason laughed, rubbing his chest even though she totally hadn’t hit him that hard. “Ouch Pipes. Anyway, you were asleep the entire lunch period. You never showed up for class, so the teachers started looking for you, and well…”

Piper stared at him blankly. “What?”

“Let’s just say Principle Chiron is a little upset,” Jason replied with a slightly tense smile. 

“Oh Gods.” Piper started messing with her hair with one hand, the other hand frantically searching her person as she rummaged her pockets for her phone. “What time is it?”

“Around one,” Jason admitted. “We couldn’t find you for half an hour.”

“HALF AN HOUR?” Piper yelped, spinning around. She nearly fainted when she saw the clock on the wall behind her.

“What. The—“ She indulged herself in more curses and swearing as she pulled out her phone, shaking her head empathetically. “No way! I was on my way to Bio, and then there was this guy—“

“A guy?” Jason stood up straighter, looking worried. His sharp blue eyes seemed to pierce her as he gently took her hands in his and ordered clearly: “What guy?”

Piper was starting to panic. “I don’t know!” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I mean, he said his name was Clovis. It’s all so blurry because I was really tired Jas. I mean, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. He said his name was Clovis and he kept talking to me but I can’t remember…” She trailed off when she saw the murderous look in Jason’s eyes. 

“Oh Gods.” Her throat clenched. “You don’t think—?” She took another deep breath. “You believe me right? Jason?”

He pulled her in and kissed her slowly on her forehead, his lips firm against her skin. Piper finally relaxed, resting her head on his strong and sturdy shoulder.

“Of course I believe you Pipes. Come on, let’s get you home.” 

 

Meanwhile, her dad was having a panic attack. 

“Oh God, Piper!” And she was half tackled as her suave movie star Dad engulfed her in an enormous hug. Piper yelped as Tristan pulled her close, as if she might just disappear if he didn’t cling her tight to his chest. 

Piper gasped, unable to breath. “Dad,” She grunted weakly, “I’m fine.”

Tristan let her go partly, still keeping his large hands over her shoulders. “Piper Mclean,” He suddenly changed his tone suddenly, letting sullen anger leak into his voice. “I am so disappointed in you.” 

Piper nodded, looking down as she was too ashamed to look him in the eye. “Yeah Dad, look I’m really sorry…”

Her dad held up a hand to silence her. Piper sighed and waited impatiently for her sentence to befall her. Finally, her dad spoke mildly, “Piper, you don’t understand how your little disappearing act was like your mother’s and my own worst nightmare. The school called and said they couldn’t find you and asked if you had come home without permission, and I had nothing to tell them. Now, do you have anything to say to me?”

Piper shifted her feet but said nothing, not wanting to babble on about the strange boy named Clovis and the sudden sleep attack, but when her dad intoned in his “warning” voice, “Piper…” She knew she had to say something.

Or in other words, lie.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” Piper started off with the typical excuse. Her mind scrounged around for a logical excuse that didn’t sound half insane. “I was on my way to Bio and I totally didn’t mean to fall asleep but I did, and I am really, very sorry.” Piper tried her hardest to look her dad in the face and keep her own expression guilt free, but she wasn’t sure if she succeeded. Piper was a terrible liar. 

By the not-so-convinced look on her dad’s face, she obviously hadn’t been very convincing, but he did let it drop, which was a relief. She hated lying to her parents. Not only was she more obvious than a neon sign saying I AM LYING, but she always felt dirty afterwards. It was the type of dirty she couldn’t get off her, no matter how many showers she took.

“Okay Pipes,” He sighed and hugged her again, more gentle this time. “That was irresponsible of you. And here is your consequence. I want you in your mother’s sight, twenty-four seven. No dates, no pizza with friends, no after school chit-chats. You go to school and you come home right after the bell rings. I want to you to keep that phone glued to your hand, and I want you to text me every hour, even if it’s just to say “K.” 

Piper sighed, “But Dad…”

Tristan raised a hand. “No buts. And I want you to turn on your GPS. Now young lady.”

Piper bit back a sigh and held back an eye roll, but did as she was told. It was his right after all. She had freaked him out and lied about it. She deserved the punishment she was getting.

“Okay Dad.” She turned on the GPS and then texted him a quick, 

Piper: K.

Piper pressed send and then went on her tip toes and kissed her dad’s fashionably scruffy cheek. “I gotta go do homework.”

“Alright Pipes. Better text me.”

Piper grinned as she lugged her bag upstairs and waved her i-phone with a smile. “Already covered.”

She had just reached her room when she heard a rumba ringtone quickly followed by her dad’s laugh.


	7. Part Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson!!! Just a fan is all :) All characters are courtesy of Rick Riordan. Plot line would be mine. Enjoy!

Jason

He watched Piper enter her house, concern etched on his face. She looked really out of it. He felt like a bit of a jerk for kissing her when she was so messed up like that, but she had been on the verge of a panic attack and he needed to calm her down. Plus, she had looked so good with the sunlight glittering in her hair, and on her nutmeg skin, sparkling over her like golden glitter.

At least it had been a comfort kiss, though it had been so hard not to kiss those perfect lips of hers. He couldn’t have done it though, not when she had been so scared, because he would have felt like he was taking advantage of her.

Jason walked over to his speed bike, ruffling his hair as he went and sometimes glancing back at where he had left Piper at her doorstep. Of course she was inside by now, but he still had this overwhelming urge to barge in and just hold her in his arms until they were both warm, inside and out. 

Shaking his head, he climbed onto his bike, already missing Piper’s weight on the handlebars. He speed away, biking over to his friend Reyna’s house to practice his recorder skills for music class. He was terrible, but everyone had to do music in Sophomore year and the recorder was the easiest instrument he could pick. 

Reyna was awesome though. She played the cello, and man, she could make angels cry with her music. Piper was great at music too, though she did vocals instead of playing an instrument. She had a powerful voice that was both sweet and strong. 

Jason slipped off his bike and jogged up the driveway, a glisten of sweat clinging lightly to his skin as his feet beat out the slow rhythm. He reached the charming cottage-like house door and knocked politely on the red wood. A minute passed and nobody responded. 

Jason frowned, a crinkle in his brow. What was going on? Reyna was always there at the door the second he arrived. What was different this time? Why wasn’t she responding?

Jason rapped his knuckles on the door again, slightly less patient but not trying the doorbell yet. His mom had drilled into his head ever since day one: Be polite. Which was ironic since she herself was never polite. Neither was Thalia, his older sister who was currently a senior at Clearman. Though, she was nice enough with her boyfriend she was obsessed with; some guy named Luke Castellan. Apparently they had met the first day of freshman year and had been dating ever since. 

Personally, Jason liked the guy, he seemed nice enough if taken to be occasionally moody. Plus, he loved basketball, which was always a great sport to bond over. 

Jason knocked again, and the door was finally pulled back a crack. Reyna’s older sister Hylla was standing there, her hair fluttering around her thin face wearily, having been pulled from it’s ponytail. 

“Um…” Jason muttered, which was pretty un-cool, but Hylla looked horrible.

She had bags under her eyes, her skin was waxy, her hair a rat’s nest, and her body thin enough Jason could start to see bones. Around her shoulders was a ratty old quilt and she had on her school soccer uniform underneath. 

Hylla doubled over coughing, making a horrible wet rasping noise in her throat. 

“Jason,” She gasped, rubbing her side with shaking hands. “Go away. Reyna…texted you. We’re sick…so, just go.” Hylla wheezed out, her lungs making a terrifying rattle.

Jason wanted to turn tail and run. He wanted to get as far away from Hylla as physically possible. He wanted to run to his house and move to China. Heck, he wanted to move to the moon. But he couldn’t just leave Hylla there, looking too weak to even close the front door. So instead he forced himself to ignore the sick appearance of Hylla and the even worse sick smell and step inside their house.

Hylla wheezed something like “Stop,” but she didn’t try to force him out—not that it would have gotten her anywhere. He turned around and closed the door for her, gently steering her blanketed shoulders into the family room where she promptly collapsed on the couch.

The drapes were drawn, and all the lights were switched off. Jason made to open the blinds, but Hylla rasped out, 

“Don’t. The light…hurts.” 

Jason frowned, but left the drapes where they were. He did crack open a window, ever a firm believer that fresh air would help them a lot more than stuffy dust. 

He tried his hardest to make Hylla comfortable, getting her soft socks and a robe to wear while she shivered on the couch. Jason mixed her a ginger ale to help with her stomach and throat. He got her a wet cloth to sponge herself; which she seemed to appreciate. 

“Where’s Reyna?” He asked as he handed her the cloth.

“Bedroom,” Hylla whispered, the ginger ale having revived her voice somewhat. “She was sick before me. After school from soccer, just came home shivering and shaking. Mom and I were taking care of her, but then I got sick and Mom’s been running ragged trying to get us everything we need. She’s at the store right now, but Jason, you should leave. I don’t want you to catch this too.”

Jason grinned good-naturedly, trying to be positive for Hylla. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

He smiled at her again and then left to see how Reyna was doing. 

Once he opened her bedroom door, his smile melted off his face and plopped on the floor. In fact, after seeing Reyna, he doubted he would be able to smile ever again.

If Hylla was bad, Reyna was at death’s door. Her bones were poking through her skin, which was so hot his hand starting sweating inches away from her forehead, and her lips were so chapped it looked as if they had been covered with salt and dehydrated like jerky. In the closed off lighting of her room, her skin look yellow, and her breath was hardly more than a rasp like nails scrapping over a chalkboard. 

‘Oh Gods,’ Jason screamed in his head. ‘I can’t do this!’ But he approached her anyway, pulling up her bed covers because she was shaking like a leaf. He opened her window, careful not to let the light fall on her eyes, and made her a ginger ale with a crazy straw. When he put it up to her lips, she did drink it, which he decided to take as a good sign. Another cool cloth went over her forehead, and he was just rubbing chap stick over her broken lips when a voice coughed behind him.

Jason finished with the chap stick before turning around, thinking it was Hylla, and then jumped ten feet in the air when he saw a forty year old woman standing in the doorway. 

Jason immediately turned red, fumbling with the chap stick cap as he sputtered out, “Gods, I’m sorry! I’m a friend of Reyna’s and she was going to go over music with me, but when I got here she looked so sick…I just wanted to help, I swear—“

The woman held up her hand. She gave Jason a wane smile, her eyes scanning her daughter tiredly. 

“Relax Jason, I’ve heard all about you from my daughter. Thank you for helping, but you really had better head home. I don’t want you to pick up this bug as well.”

Jason twisted his shirt as he nodded, hesitating to speak what was going through his head, but wanting to help as much as he could. Reyna’s mom just looked so tired, he was actually worried about her own health. 

“Sure, but Mrs. Roman…” he cleared his throat and blurted out, “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some help? I’d be happy to pick up groceries or run errands for you. I know it’s hard to deal with sickness alone. My sister, Thalia, was sick not too long ago and I was run ragged trying to do everything myself. So, if you want some help, I just thought I’d offer…” He trailed off and looked down, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Still, he had to ask. Even if Mrs. Roman got mad and made him leave, he had to ask. It was only polite. 

To his surprise, he heard a small laugh. He glanced up, astonished, and saw Mrs. Roman smiling at him. 

“Thank you,” she responded warmly. “Honestly, thank you. But please, don’t call me Mrs. Roman, it makes me feel like a grandmother. Call me Belladonna.”

“Um…okay Mrs.… Belladonna,” Jason stumbled over the words. He hated calling adults their first name, it was just so wrong to him, but his embarrassment made Belladonna laughed, flashing her pearly teeth and black hair. Jason smiled inwardly, glad that she was looking better even if it had been at his expense.

“Alright Jason. If I have an errand I’ll be sure to call you. Now, go on home. I think we’re good here.”

“Right.” Jason followed her awkwardly, making his way to the front door. She held it open for him as he passed onto the porch, but then he stopped and turned, curiosity eating at him.

“What’s the sickness called?” He asked suddenly. Belladonna raised an eyebrow and he fidgeted. “I mean, what do they have? It didn’t look like the flu, or the common cold…”

Belladonna sighed and leaned against the door. “Well Jason, that’s the real mystery of all this…Nobody knows.”

 

Thursday was football practice, but Jason wasn’t as hyped about it as he usually was. The strange sickness Reyna and Hylla had was beginning to spread all over the school. Nearly every soccer player was out by Thursday, along with forty percent of the school. The campus was starting to have this creepy feeling to it, the kind that made Jason’s hair stand up on the back of his neck. He started his jog down to the field as always, even though the complete lack of sound was faintly disturbing. 

To make matters worse, Piper was still on suspension with her parents. And as punishment for her irresponsibility, they had decided she couldn’t attend the dance. It sucked and Jason had lost motivation to go, but Thalia had extracted a promise from him that he would attend so that they could both get out of the house. Recently, Thalia had adopted this strange “older sister” protection instinct that meant Jason couldn’t go anywhere without her knowing first.

It was almost like she was afraid if she took her gaze off of him for a minute, he would disappear.

Jason shook off the thought, however, as he entered the field, trying to concentrate on solely football and nothing else. That was rather hard to do though, when he saw exactly three members of the team had shown up for practice: including himself.

“What’s going on here?” demanded Coach Hedge, looking furious. “Where the rest of my team?”

“Sick Coach,” replied Charles Beckendorf, one of the linebackers of the team. “Their all sick. Some kind of mutant flu/cold virus going around. All the doctors are stumped.”

“Well,” Hedge glowered at Beckendorf. “There’s no point in practicing with only three of you cupcakes is there? Go home. Don’t get sick, or I’ll make the whole team do sprints for three hours.” And then he promptly walked off.

Jason sighed, tugging off his helmet. “Well, this was pointless.”

“I wonder what that sickness is?” asked Lee Fetcher. “Because, whatever it is, it’s starting to infect a lot of people. I mean, is it just me, or does anyone else think this is like, the freakin zombie apocalypse? First they get sick, then they go insane, and next thing you know, every around here is grunting and chewing on each other’s intestines.”

“Charming,” Jason commented dryly. “I guess now would be the time to join Piper and go vegetarian.”  
Lee and Beckendorf laughed, though there was tension in their voices. Most of the sports teams had been severely crippled, and recently there was talk about canceling school for a week while they disinfected the classrooms and halls. Jason wouldn’t mind that, but the price of cancelation was beginning to be a high one.

Both Reyna and Hylla had been admitted into the hospital yesterday, after Reyna had fallen into a dangerous coma. The docs were doing everything they could, but no one could identify what the sickness was, or why it was striking only those people who were especially healthy.

These thoughts kept all three boys quiet as they changed and then parted ways, each heading home in a different direction. As he walked, Jason turned everything over and over in his mind until he was fuzzy-eyed with exhaustion. Then he blinked. Why did he have this sudden unbearable urge to curl up on the cement sidewalk and take a nap?

He fought the urge and turned around, seeing this stick thin teenager with soft baby blonde hair and a round face standing behind him. The guy looked half asleep, and just by staring at him too long, Jason could feel his own eyes dropping.

“Who are you?” He spat out, reaching into his pockets for the vitamins he kept there. He wasn’t sure if eating the gummies would help him stay awake, but it couldn’t hurt.

“Clovis,” replied the guy, giving Jason a sleepy smile. “Hi Jason. It’s nice to see you a… I mean it’s nice to met you.”

Clovis? Jason felt like he knew the name. And whatever was going on with this guy, he was feeling more and more like falling down and passing out. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t about to take the chance of being knocked out on the sidewalk.

He popped three vitamins in his mouth.

Instantly, he felt more awake, though it could have been more of a mental sort of thing. Whatever the case, he was mad and confused, and he was willing to let Clovis know it.

“Clovis? Why do I feel like I should know you? And why do you make me want to pass out?”

Clovis held up his hands. “It’s not on purpose! I just need to talk to you.”

Jason wanted to rag on him more, but the guy looked nervous enough. He kept checking behind him, rubbing his eyes, and pinching his arm. If that wasn’t abnormal behavior, Jason wasn’t sure what was.

“Okay.” Not very poetic, but he had no clue what to say.

“Okay.” Clovis mirrored his response. Jason scowled, thinking he was being insulted, but Clovis started speaking right before he opened his mouth, forcing Jason to shut up and listen, albeit impatiently.

“Okay, so here’s the deal. This sickness? It’s not normal. In fact, it is the epitome of unnatural.”

Jason blinked. That wasn’t what he expected to have heard. “What do you mean? How do you know? Why—?”

“I can’t explain it all,” Clovis interrupted. “My dad would find out. All I can tell you is that this sickness isn’t natural.” 

Jason frowned. “You’re dad? And what, was the disease created in a lab or something?”

Clovis apparently decided to ignore the dad comment. “Mmm, no. Try, it’s an effect of a particularly difficult to combat god.”

Jason stared. And stared. And stared some more. The kid was insane. He had to be insane. Or Jason hadn’t heard him right. There was no way he had just said what Jason was so sure he had heard.

“I’m sorry,” He gave Clovis a chance to prove he didn’t belong locked in a rubber room with a straight jacket on. “Did you just say god? As in, divine being?”

“Oh, come on. They might have suppressed your thoughts a little, but you still know it’s true. You of all people know it’s true.”

Jason glared at Clovis. “You’re joking right? You’re not seriously…serious?”

Clovis looked him dead in the eye and spoke clearly, seeming to be awake for the first time. “I’ve never been more serious in my life. Jason, shut up for a second.”

Jason closed his mouth to the thousands of questions and insults that were running through his head. He waited impatiently, wanting to hear what the hell this kid could say that would convince him not to call the insane asylum. 

“Ignore the impossible-ness of what I’ve just said and think about the impossible events going on right now. Jason, this disease is impossible. The other disease is just as impossible, though it’s still just in the beginning stages. Soon, this entire town will be in a coma—“

“Other disease?” Jason gave the guy a hard glare. “What other disease? How do you know?”

Clovis made a noise of irritation. “I think I liked it better when you were sleep deprived.”

Jason blinked. “I’ve never seen you before in my life. What are talking about?”

“You don’t remember do you? Well,” Clovis sighed. “This is an unexpected side effect.”

“What. Are. You. Saying?” Jason forced out through gritted teeth.

“I’m saying I’ve talked to you before, all of you, but because of this whole human vibe you’ve got going on, you won’t remember anything I say. Like Piper. Has she mentioned me at all?”

“Piper met you?” Jason asked blankly.

“Exactly. I suppose the only thing I can leave you with is fading impressions. Which is really annoying, by the way.”

“Can you get to the point then?” Jason demanded. “Or maybe you could, I don’t know, explain what’s going on?”

“Testy,” Clovis chided. But he did comply. “You’ll see the second disease soon. A lot sooner than you’ll want. And you’ll need to find a way to stop it.”

“Great. Thanks for managing to explain absolutely nothing.” Jason snapped. He pinched his brow and sighed deeply. “Can you at least tell me how to stop these diseases?”

Clovis shrugged. “Google?”

He opened his mouth to make a smart ass comment when the fatigue hit him like a semi-truck. Jason yawned loudly, his vitamin high apparently starting to crash. He was more exhausted then ever. Jason sagged, unable to muster the energy to even stand upright. Clovis caught him by the shoulders and carefully lowered him to the ground.

“See you later Jason, even if you don’t remember it.”


	8. Part Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy goes to a dance and something a lot worse happens back at home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All thanks to Rick Riordan, and to an awesome friend who continued to be enthused by my writing. Hugs to all.

Percy

He checked himself in the mirror, tugging at the ends of his unruly hair. The door to his bedroom creaked open and Paul appeared behind him, smiling proudly like only a father can. 

“You look good Percy.” He put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Got a lady to impress?”

Percy laughed. “Ah, no.”

“Want a little free guy advice?” Paul asked. Percy nodded, hiding a smile. “You see someone you like, someone who stands out to you, don’t hesitate. Go up to her, and ask her dance. The worst she could say is no. And trust me, it won’t break your heart. But if she says yes, it’ll make your night worth remembering, and hers as well. So go ahead and just go for it.”

Percy flashed back to the blonde cheerleader he had met in the hallway. It had been a little over a week and he hadn’t been able to return her dad’s ring to her yet, because she had been missing from school recently, not unlike forty percent of the school population. Percy hoped she wasn’t sick.

The sudden sickness was striking the school hard. Many parents weren’t letting their kids go to the dance tonight, or even to their classes for fear of their children being infected by this dangerous virus. But the strangest thing was that no one over eighteen got the virus, and it hadn’t expanded beyond the town. 

Then he came back to the present, and realized Paul was expecting an answer. 

“Yeah,” Percy gave his dad a smile. “Yeah I’ll be sure to do that.”

Paul smiled back and gave him one last shoulder pat before letting Percy have his own space. That was the great thing about Paul. He knew when to step back and let Percy have his privacy. His mom had never been able to do that; she had always crowded him when he wanted nothing more than to be alone. 

Though now he regretted every moment he hadn’t spent with her.

Percy shoved the negative thoughts from his head and returned back to the mirror. He straightened his dark blue button up shirt and gave his hair one last tug before giving it up as a hopeless cause. He wasn’t even sure why he was going, other than to hopefully met Annabeth again and finally give her back her father’s ring. He left the room and took the car keys from the bowl on the counter. He had gotten his permit a week ago, so Paul would still be in the car with him, but at least he would the one driving.

Percy managed to get him and Paul to the dance with only a few scary you-need-to-break-now-unless-you-want-to-run-that-red-light moments. Paul took the wheel as Percy got out, giving him one last encouraging smile.

“Have fun Percy. I’ll see you at twelve.”

Percy nodded and waved good-bye. “See you later Dad.”

Paul rolled up the window and drove off, leaving Percy alone in his polo shirt, trousers, dress shoes, and thin silver chain with Annabeth’s ring slid onto it. He took a deep breath of night air and hurried to where the boom box sounds were strongest, half-listening to the crappy pop songs that played loud enough to burst eardrums.

Around the center quad where the main party was being held, clumps of students made cliché circles, giggling and laughing or, in the guys’ case, playing basketball with ping pong balls and coke cans. Strung up lights waved overhead in a soft autumn breeze, casting a multi-colored rainbow glow over the dancers. 

Percy stopped and considered joining the ping pong and coke basketball game, when he glanced over and saw Annabeth talking with a pretty cheerleader and a blonde dude who was most definitely a jock. Almost as if the forces of gravity willed it, Percy found himself drawn to her until he had shouldered his way over to where she and the other two were standing.

“…snuck out. Dad’s sleeping over at the studio and Mom fell asleep early. So, I figured, what the heck?”

“Gods Piper,” Annabeth shook her head, sending a cascade of blonde curls over her shoulder. “Sneaking out at night? That’s a dangerous thing to do.”

“I’m a dangerous girl,” Piper replied with a wicked smile. The guy laughed and leaned and kissed her. 

“That, I can believe.”

Percy cleared his throat and stepped towards them, ignoring the blush creeping up on his face when they all stopped and stared at him. He felt like Ken doll’s ugly half-brother in comparison to the blonde guy across from him. It also didn’t help that Annabeth looked so dang fine in her cream and silver dress decorated with an olive branch sash. 

“Uh, hi.” He managed, making both girls giggle while the guy eyed him with a neutral expression. “It’s Annabeth, right?” He asked her, even though her totally knew it was her. It was like her face and name had been seared into his brain.

Annabeth nodded. “And you’re Percy. Can I help you?”

The way she said it was…cold. Percy suddenly felt like an idiot. What, so they had had a chance in a million encounter alone in the hallways. Did he really think this pretty blonde cheerleader who was popular and had a ton of friends would just magically like him? Who was he, at his plebeian statues, to approach her?

“Sorry to bother,” He replied in equally cool tones. “I just wanted to return this to you.” He pulled off the chain and held up the ring so it glowed faintly in the neon party lights. Annabeth stared at it, surprise and relief written on her face.

“Thank you!” She smiled and took the ring and chain, pulling it off eagerly. “I wondered what happened to this. Dad would have killed me if he found out. It was his college ring you know, as a memento of his graduation from Harvard’s doctorate program.” 

‘She’s seems happier,’ Percy observed wryly. But outwardly, he just nodded, trying to act natural. “Cool. Well, I’ll see you around I suppose.” He turned to go when Annabeth suddenly called,

“Wait!”

Percy turned. She blushed a little as she said, “I have your picture of you and your mom and I wanted tor return it. It’s at my locker though, so if you want we could go get it.”

Percy blinked, remembering the picture he had cut himself on. He had scoured his textbook for it, even promising Leo to never put pizza in his backpack again if he helped search/clean. But they had never found it. Had Annabeth had it this entire time?

And then he was acutely he was a sixteen year old guy with pictures of his mom. Percy inwardly sighed. What did it matter, since his dating opportunities with any girl was less likely than man setting up a space station on Mars in the next year? 

“Sure,” He responded. Anything to get away from the awkward dance and the crappy music.

They walked in silence for a bit, uncomfortable but having nothing to say that would even scrap at the thick ice between them. Finally, Annabeth spoke. 

“Are your parents still letting you stay at school? What with the sickness going around?” 

Percy shrugged. “Paul’s cool. He’s probably going to let me stay, until they do that week cancelation thing. Why, are yours not?”

Annabeth sighed. “Not even close. I had to beg to come to this dance, and last I checked, they were looking at online schools. Like I don’t have enough social problems to begin with. My dad is especially freaked, but Mom’s coming in for a close second. What about your mom?”

Percy felt his throat clench. He didn’t want to say it. He really didn’t. He liked Annabeth and all that, but he didn’t want her to stare at him in pity and go, ‘Aww poor Percy.’ He hated it. But he really hated himself when he heard his voice intone:

“My mom’s dead.”

Annabeth stood shock still. Her face was both stunned and sad, the quiet kind of sad that made Percy feel like she knew at least partly what it felt like. 

“I’m sorry—“ She began, but Percy cut her off.

“For what?” He shrugged. “You didn’t kill her. It’s just life. Sometimes people live. Sometimes people die.”

Annabeth didn’t look impressed with his macho statement, and while she seemed like a nice enough girl, she also seemed like the kind of person who could never leave good enough alone. So Percy was only half-surprised when she answered to his cut off.

“Still. My grandma died last year too. So, I know.”

Percy blinked at her. “I never said Mom died last year.”

Annabeth blushed a little. “On the picture, there’s a handwritten date on the back. It said January of last year.”

“Oh.” Not a very intelligent answer, but Percy really just wanted this conversation to end. This wasn’t how he imagined talking to Annabeth—not that he had really thought about it. Maybe vaguely considered once or twice. But whatever he had considered, talking about his mom was not on his list. Maybe it was unhealthy to keep everything cooped up inside, but right now Percy felt inside was the best place for it.

“Here.” Annabeth stopped in front of her locker and started her combination while Percy shifted his weight awkwardly. In the background, the music blared out in drums and steel guitars with a retro beat. Percy half-listened, finding the song less tedious than the ones he had heard before.

Annabeth pulled open her locker door, and then paused with a half-smile. “I like this song.”

Percy grinned. “Better than Justin Beaver, that’s for sure.”

Annabeth laughed. “You mean Beber?”

Percy shrugged. “Sounds the same either way.”

“Your head is full of kelp.”

“Kelp?” Percy grinned at Annabeth. “That’s an unusual insult.”

Annabeth colored, but didn’t back down. “I’m an unusual girl.” Percy grinned, but didn’t contradict her. She wasn’t your average cheerleader, he had to give her that much. Looking at her text books, Percy could see she had all Honors classes, and was taking twelve clubs judging from the various posters and stickers adorning her locker. It also appeared she was taking zero-period Yearbook, seeing as she had a folder neatly marked, “Yearbook.”

“Isn’t one honors class enough?” Percy asked. “I mean, do you really need to take like, twenty?” The second the words slipped out he blinked. Wow. That sounded way harsher out loud. Hopefully Annabeth wouldn’t take offense.

“Knowledge is power,” Annabeth replied instantly, not appearing to be too defensive. She pulled out the photo from Ziploc bag and handed it over to Percy. “Thanks for returning the ring.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for the picture.” Percy took the photo and then hesitated, unwilling just to leave. He wanted to stay and talk to her, he wanted to laugh and argue over the merits of music. But he knew that was totally impossible. She was way too pretty, way too smart, and way too out of his league. 

So he turned and started to walk away. Right until he heard Annabeth call out, “Percy!”

He looked back, trying to act nonchalant even though his heart raced when she said his name. 

“I’ll see you Monday, right?”

Percy smiled.

“Yeah.”

 

He walked home. It was only five blocks, but it was still enough to make his feet hurt by the time he arrived at the apartment complex. He had phoned Paul several times at the school, but his dad had never responded. He could have either stayed until the dance was over around midnight and hopefully catch a ride, or he could walk home. Percy choose to walk.

He unlocked the front door and flicked on the lights, glad not for the first time that he was on the second floor. Less bugs than the first floor, but not as many stairs as the third floor. Perfect.

“Dad?” he called out as he dropped his keys in the wooden bowl by the door. “Hey Dad, anyone home?” Which, now that he considered it was a stupid question. If Paul was home, he should have answered the phone. 

Percy walked toward the living room, beginning to grow nervous. Paul was never one not to answer the phone, or not to greet his son. It could be he was deep asleep, but even he would have woken up once Percy had called the house phone for like, the seventh time in a row. He had to be out then, but he should have answered his cell, unless he had turned it off for some reason, or had left it behind.

Percy felt his heart pounding in his chest. Something was definitely wrong here. But what? 

He rounded the corner into the family room and got his answer.

Paul was slumped in the armchair, his dark hair bleached pure white. The moonlight slicing through the windows along with the faint glow of the hallway lights showed enough of his face for Percy to see the new lines of age, liver spots and wrinkles his dad shouldn’t have had.

Paul took a deep breath and rattled out a word he could just make out to be, “Percy…”

“No. No. No.” Percy fell backwards, collapsing onto the floor, so overcome with shaking he couldn’t seem to stand. He crawled over to Paul, his hands shivering with an inner cold he couldn’t conquer. “Paul?” Percy whispered horrified.

Paul turned and faced him, his eyes dark with age. Another rattling breath came from his lungs and Paul fell forward, unable to sit up.

“Paul!”


End file.
